Charlie Swan and Des McDonogh left spellbound by mighty Faugheen
The Willie Mullins-trained eight-year-old dominated his rivals last March and while his air of invincibility was lost when suffering the first defeat of his career at the hands of stable companion Nichols Canyon at Punchestown in November, he emphatically reversed that form with a scintillating performance in the Irish Champion Hurdle.
Off the back of that performance, many consider Faugheen to be the best two-mile hurdler the sport has seen since the great Istabraq, who won a record-equalling three Champion Hurdles at Cheltenham and struck gold four times in the Irish equivalent – a feat only bettered last year by former Mullins superstar Hurricane Fly.
